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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba holds a news conference in Tokyo last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 16, 2025

Japan to accelerate development of logistics network in Africa

The planned corridor, which will link the inland African country of Zambia and a port in Mozambique, is aimed at enhancing supply chains for mineral resources.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (left) and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo in April 1996 announcing the decision to return to Japan the site for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025

Okinawa’s backers in LDP dwindle, prompting concern

At present, not many lawmakers are putting priority on Okinawa after measures taken by the government in the past for the development of the prefecture produced certain results.
A Pertamina fuel storage facility at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta in 2022
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 18, 2025

Indonesia’s ‘gasoline godfather’ targeted in $18 billion graft probe

Mohammad Riza Chalid is the most audacious target to date for the current administration, as it reshuffles its energy procurement and attempts to supercharge growth.
Born in 2012, Lynx has a striking appearance with his golden eyes and steel-gray coat.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Aug 20, 2025

Handsome cat looking for brighter days ahead

Lynx, born in 2012, may seem shy at first, but has proven himself to be a sweet cat full of affection.
Students visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in late April. Attitudes in Japan are shifting away from the traditional pacifist views that have held sway since the end of World War II.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025

Trump shock spurs Japan to think about the unthinkable: nuclear arms

There is a growing willingness to loosen the country’s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons in its territory.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi celebrates after winning the Diamond League men's 800m final at the London Stadium on July 19.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 20, 2025

Former cattle herder Wanyonyi ready to eclipse Rudisha

Wanyonyi was crowned Olympic champion at last year's Paris Games at just 20, a year after sealing silver at the world championships in Budapest.
Seri Yanai and Daniel Wishes founded the shadow puppetry company Mochinosha in 2012 when they were students at the London School of Puppetry.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 22, 2025

Seri Yanai: ‘We mix modern and analog to create something new’

The co-founder of Mochinosha, a shadow puppetry company based in Saitama Prefecture, talks about her journey to the stage and her artistic inspirations.
Giants special advisor to baseball operations Dusty Baker looks on before the game against the Washington Nationals at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Aug. 8.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 22, 2025

MLB greats warn lockout or strike would derail sport's momentum

The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association expires next year.
Sakurazaka46, the idol pop outfit formerly known as Keyakizaka46, wrapped up an an 11-night nationwide tour this month.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2025

Sakurazaka46 wants the world to dance along

The 33-member idol group takes its spectacle-heavy performances on the road — and abroad.
A Philippine Navy sailor looks at a China Coast Guard vessel just off the coast of Pag-asa Island in the disputed South China Sea last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 1, 2025

Surrounded by Chinese bases, a tiny Philippine island stands firm

Pag-asa Island — population 400 — sits on the front line of a simmering territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila in the flash point South China Sea.
"It's not just about sales. It's about system change," said Marty Pomphrey, general manager of Patagonia Japan, on Aug. 6.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 1, 2025

‘Cool’ Patagonia wants to take used items into the mainstream

The American outdoor brand is looking to make the offering of secondhand goods alongside new products the next step of its evolution.
Dan Kerrigan, CEO of Interactive Brokers Securities Japan, said inflation is here and more money is likely to move into stocks.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025

Last man standing is bullish on Japanese stocks

Dan Kerrigan, the CEO of Interactive Brokers, has been here for decades and seen it all.
Then-Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe speaks during a panel session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22. Freixe was fired this week over an undisclosed romantic relationship with a subordinate.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 3, 2025

From Coldplay kiss cam to Nestle, office romances are costing CEOs their jobs

The firing of Nestle CEO Laurent Freixe this week puts the spotlight on office relationships, and their ubiquity.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after a group photograph before a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2025

Hot mic catches Xi and Putin talking about organ transplants and immortality

The Chinese and Russian leaders, both 72, spoke of technology that could help humans live up to 150 years.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama attend the LDP’s plenary meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 8. Once dominant, the ruling party is now struggling to maintain control amid calls for Ishiba to step down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2025

Dragging on the LDP’s political drama does little for Japan

From dominance to doubt, the ruling party struggles to maintain control.
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2025

‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis

The numbers are staggering when you dig into them. Parents in Japan covered half of higher education costs in 2024 — more than double the OECD average.
Amanda Anismova celebrates after defeating Naomi Osaka in the U.S. Open semifinals in New York on Thursday.
TENNIS
Sep 6, 2025

Power struggle in U.S. Open final as Sabalenka faces Anisimova

Both players will bring big serves and lethal forehands to a U.S. Open final that is shaping up to be a slugfest.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open on Saturday in New York.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2025

Sabalenka crowned queen of Queens with back-to-back U.S. Open titles

The Belarusian became the first woman to win back-to-back U.S. Opens since Serena Williams claimed three straight from 2012 to 2014.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after defeating Amanda Anisimova in the final of the U.S. Open on Saturday in New York.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2025

'Tiger' Sabalenka turns a corner in New York after Grand Slam final letdowns

After final defeats at Melbourne and Paris, and a Wimbledon semifinal setback against Anisimova, Sabalenka turned all that disappointment into fuel on Saturday.
Nationals manager Davey Johnson during a game against the Tigers in Detroit in July 2013.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 7, 2025

Three-time World Series champion Davey Johnson dies at 82

Johnson was a four-time MLB All-Star second baseman and also played for the Yomiuri Giants in the 1970s.
The Sau Reservoir in Vilanova de Sau in Catalonia, an area of Spain that has been suffering from drought, on Aug. 25
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Sep 9, 2025

Drought hit over half of Europe in mid-August, EU data shows

More than three quarters of Portugal was affected by drought, with the country also experiencing devastating wildfires.
A tornado that struck Shizuoka Prefecture on Friday is estimated to have been one of the strongest in Japan, with an instantaneous wind speed of 75 meters per second, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2025

Tornado that hit Shizuoka one of Japan's strongest

The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated Friday's tornado had an instantaneous wind speed of 75 meters per second.
A Chinese Navy ship speeds past a Philippine fishing boat while the Philippine, Australia and Canadian navies conduct a joint drill near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sept. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 10, 2025

Manila working on new protocols for dealing with Beijing in South China Sea

As tensions heat up in the waterway, the Philippines is updating its existing rules of engagement as part of a whole-of-government approach.
Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA founder, puts on a MAGA hat during an event in Phoenix, Arizona, in December 2024.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 11, 2025

Death of Charlie Kirk lays bare deep U.S. political divisions

His death left many of his fellow conservatives seething and blaming liberals for the assault, while Democrats largely kept to a more reserved tone.
A Philippine Navy soldier observes Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Takanami from a Philippine ship in the South China Sea, on June 14.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2025

Japan-Philippines visiting-forces pact comes into force as defense ties blossom

The pact will serve as the legal basis for Japanese and Philippine forces operating in each other’s countries, paving the way for greater cooperation amid tensions with Beijing.
The CDP head Yoshihiko Noda (front row, third from right) , newly-elected Secretary-General Jun Azumi (front row, third from left) and other executives gather in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 11, 2025

Noda appoints new leadership team members to help bolster CDP's base

CDP party leader Yoshihiko Noda chose new team members whose views sometimes differ from his to help reinforce the party’s base and show "a united party front."
FBI agents inspect a rooftop on Thursday at the scene where, a day earlier, youth activist and influencer Charlie Kirk was shot during a public event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 12, 2025

Hunt for shooter of Charlie Kirk enters third day in U.S.

The manhunt for the shooter who killed Charlie Kirk stretched into a third day on Friday, after police released fresh images in an effort to crack the case.
Chelsea fans display a banner before the Club World Cup Final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 13.
SOCCER
Sep 12, 2025

England's Football Association charges Chelsea with 74 breaches of rules

The FA did not elaborate on the charges, but Chelsea said the matters were "self-reported" by the club after the change in ownership in May 2022.
Julien Alfred celebrates after winning the women's 100-meter final at the Diamond League Final in Zurich on Aug. 28.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 12, 2025

Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred looking to add world title to Olympic gold in 100

Alfred convincingly beat reigning world champion Sha'Carri Richardson in the women's 100-meter sprint at the Paris Olympics last year.
Shigeko Kagawa, Japan's oldest person at 114, in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, on July 30
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025

Aging Japan’s centenarian population nears 100,000

The number has grown steadily in recent years and comes as the birth rate continues to plummet.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes